With the noted stress-reduction benefits of mindfulness, it makes sense that you think it could be a good addition to your life. But your list is full, and the idea of putting one more thing on it kinda makes you want to book a one-way ticket to any place without cell phone service.
Here’s a list of ways to introduce mindfulness into your life without really trying.
- Pick one area to practice mindfulness
There are so many areas where you can be mindful that it can seem overwhelming to even begin. Here’s the thing. Don’t try to do it all. What you want is a string of small successes to give you momentum.
Choose one area to make your focus. And set a deadline. You’ll work on this area for 3 days, a week, 12 days, something like that. You don’t want to make it too long. Again, that quick, easy success thing.
Let’s say you know you buzz through your meals like the house is on fire, but you need to eat before you escape. Choose one meal to focus on and eat more mindfully. Maybe it’s not even a meal. Maybe it’s just a snack.
Think through what you are doing as you do it. See the food in front of you. Consider it before you eat it. I’m not saying you should be able to describe it to a sketch artist, but you should at least be able to recall what you ate!
Your aim is to build up to paying attention to eating your entire meal.
Of course, you’re going to get distracted. The kids are going to ask 3,000 questions, or they won’t talk at all and you’ll wonder if you’ll ever hear their voices again. But don’t worry. When you realize you are distracted, come back to your fork!
This works for any area you choose. Heck, if you’re really scared of committing time, you can choose something that typically doesn’t take very long. Putting lotion on your hands. Getting the mail from your mailbox. Even tying your shoes, if you really can’t take the pressure.
Anything. Just think about what you’re doing as you’re doing it.
- Set an alarm to remind you to be mindful
Maybe you’re the type of person who loves routines. You crave the monotony of knowing exactly what will happen next. The idea of changing your path to work is abhorrent. You’d rather go back to middle school.
Then setting an alarm is for you.
All you need to do is choose a time that you are typically doing the same thing each day. You have coffee each morning at 7:33. You get on the crosstown bus at 5:12 each evening. Whatever it is, if you do it pretty much every day, set an alarm for that time.
When your alarm goes off, take stock of your surroundings. Observe what you are feeling: how your clothes feel. Are you sitting or standing? Is there any tension in your neck? Do any of your other muscles need to be stretched?
After you’ve done that, is there anything you can do to relax yourself even more? Like stretching those muscles? Loosening your belt? Sitting up straighter?
Do it. Then take a deep breath. And go about your day.
- Take five breaths to soothe your brain
This is a good strategy to use when you are in a more stressful situation. It needs nothing more than a few deep breaths, but the benefits are profound.
When you take your first breath, you probably won’t take a full breath. When we’re stressed, our bodies and muscles tighten in flight or fight preparation. Those tight muscles prompt us to use shallow, forceful breathing. That breathing, in turn, tightens and prepares our muscles even more.
See where I’m going with this?
So, just take the first breath and observe how short it is. Then, on the next breath, consciously work to make it longer and deeper. Aim for at least a four-count inhale and a four-count exhale.
On the third breath, transition from breathing with your lungs to using belly breaths. Really fill yourself. Stretch your breath.
On the fourth breath notice the relaxing feeling of the exhale. Make sure you wring out all of the old air from your body – this primes you to take a deeper inhale. Notice that when you breathe fully and naturally, you aren’t breathing in right after you finish the exhale. There is a pause between the two – a rest point for your body.
On the fifth breath try to breathe into the furthest places of your fingers and toes. Really fill yourself with energizing air. Let your exhale begin from there too. Like the tide: the furthest place the tide reaches still gets wet.
There—you’ve been mindful. Good job!
- Do less multitasking to be in the moment
Multitasking has become so commonplace that it is typical to see someone listening to music, scrolling through their feed, and having a conversation with the person next to them at the same time.
Are you actually engaged in any of those activities?
I encourage you to choose to do one fewer thing at a time. If you are on your phone while watching Game of Thrones, choose one. Watch or read. Don’t do both!
And to up the challenge – don’t do both even during the commercials! Or start smaller. For one commercial break, watch the commercials. Notice how you’re feeling about them. Notice how you’re feeling about not picking up your phone. Why are you feeling that way? What does that say? Does it matter?
By stretching the focus muscle, you’re allowing yourself to honor the choice you made about what you are doing with your time.
In addition, the down times are when our brains are hardwired to be creative. Without a rest, we’re keeping our brains in a constant state of reaction – not creation.
- Go barefoot to connect with nature.
Did you know there are over 100,000 to 200,000 nerve endings on the sole of a foot?
According to the Barefoot Professor, socks and shoes put our feet into a state of shoe-induced neuropathy. With socks and shoes on, our soles become desensitized to what they are feeling and they stop giving us the bio-feedback we use to connect with the ground.
But because our feet do become desensitized, they are the perfect medium to bring us back into awareness.
Try walking on all different types of ground and see how you react to each. Real grass versus artificial turf. A shag carpet versus a low-pile. Tile flooring versus hardwood.
Let your feet give you the sensory messages they are designed to do. Notice how your lower legs react to how you’re stepping.
When you’re ready for a real challenge, try crossing a room covered in LEGOs.
- Complete a body scan to find your tension spots
Isn’t it crazy that we spend so much time with ourselves and yet we don’t really know how we feel? A full body scan is a great way to take a minute to notice yourself.
While breathing deeply, think about your body, moving from the top of your head to your toes. How does your head feel? Are you holding tension in your neck? Your shoulders? Roll them gently and breathe to release the tension.
Feel the air expand your lungs and slowly breathe out.
Use a few moments to think about your arms and fingers. Are you holding tension in them too? Try flexing and curling your fingers then consciously release your muscles.
Do a few belly breaths and think about your hips, glutes, and quads. Do you need to do a few simple stretches for these muscles?
How about your calves and ankles? Feet and toes? Point and flex your toes deliberately.
Release. Breathe. And move on!
- Set a prompt to begin mindfulness
For the more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants crew, set a prompt. It comes from some basic manifesting exercises. And it’s super easy!
Decide on a prompt that you will use as the indicator to practice a minute (or 30 seconds, or 10 seconds) of mindfulness. The trick is to choose something that you know you will see multiple times throughout the day, but not something you always see.
If you commute, maybe it’s every time you see a green car. If you work from home, maybe it’s every time you see an eight on the clock.
When you see your prompt, practice being mindful for your set amount of time.
What will probably happen is you’ll notice how often you see your prompt. Every other car you see will be green. There will be 72 eights on the clock in an hour.
That’s ok.
Just focus in on your now and then go about your day. Soon, the prompts will not be so interruptive, but will be gentle reminders to come back to the present.
- Interrupt your train of thought to foster mindfulness
This is a great idea to help you change your thought process while also practicing mindfulness. Choose an area where you tend to have negative thoughts: your weight, your patience, your ability to give presentations, whatever.
When you have the negative thought, this is now your prompt to practice mindfulness and work to change your thinking.
So, if your typical script is, “I just ate the whole package of Oreos. I am so fat. I am completely unable to control myself around food,” you are actually going to pay more attention to those negative thoughts. You need to really notice and understand what you are thinking.
You ate all the cookies. Ok. But instead of saying those negative thoughts to yourself, you’re going to assess and breathe through them. Once you feel them, you’re going to find new thoughts to have.
“I’m so fat” becomes “I can and will lose X number of pounds.” Realize that your action is neutral. You ate the cookies. It’s the feelings behind WHY you ate the cookies that bears questioning. Notice when your thoughts start with “I feel” this is often leading to the why. “I feel worried about the project I’m working on.” “I feel eating the package of cookies is easier than having the mindset to change my pattern.”